Iranian tanker slips through

An Iranian-linked supertanker reached Imam Khomeini Port this week, testing how the new United States blockade is being enforced at sea. (reuters.com) Reuters reported on April 16 that a second United States-sanctioned Very Large Crude Carrier, the RHN, entered the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz on April 15, a day after the sanctioned tanker Alicia made a similar transit. A Very Large Crude Carrier is a supertanker that can carry about 2 million barrels of oil. (reuters.com) Iran’s Fars News Agency said on April 15 that a sanctioned Iranian supertanker crossed the strait “without any concealment” and headed to Imam Khomeini Port, though it did not identify the vessel. CBS News reported the same day that Iranian state media also said a bulk carrier carrying food supplies had entered Iranian waters after the transit. (msn.com) (cbsnews.com) The United States blockade began on April 13 after failed weekend talks in Islamabad between Washington and Tehran. United States Central Command said the order applies to vessels entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, not to ships merely passing through the Strait of Hormuz to non-Iranian ports. (centcom.mil) (cbsnews.com) That distinction helps explain why ships can still appear in open-source tracking data inside the strait even as the Pentagon says the blockade is in force. A United States official told CBS News on April 15 that enforcement is being staged from the Gulf of Oman, so some vessels leaving Iranian ports could clear the strait before being stopped farther out. (cbsnews.com) The traffic slowdown is still severe. Reuters said roughly one fifth of the world’s oil and gas exports normally move through the Strait of Hormuz, while CNBC reported on April 16 that just two tankers were observed transiting the lane that day, citing London Stock Exchange Group data. (reuters.com) (cnbc.com) United States Central Command has publicly argued the blockade is working. In a post summarized by Marine Log on April 15, the command said no ships made it past the blockade in the first 24 hours and six merchant vessels complied with orders from United States forces. (marinelog.com) Other reporting has shown a messier picture. The New York Times reported on April 14 that ship-tracking data showed several vessels, including some that had been docked at Iranian ports, moving through the strait after the blockade began. (nytimes.com) Imam Khomeini Port sits at the northwestern end of the Gulf and is one of Iran’s main commercial gateways, which makes any successful tanker arrival there symbolically useful for Tehran. Iranian state outlets have presented the voyage as proof that maritime pressure from Washington has not sealed off Iranian shipping. (cbsnews.com) (msn.com) The immediate question is not whether the strait is fully closed, but how selectively the blockade is being applied and where interdictions happen after ships pass the chokepoint. That is why a single tanker’s voyage has become a proxy fight over whether the United States is controlling Iranian port traffic or only squeezing it. (centcom.mil) (reuters.com)